Membrane Stripping to Induce Labor

A group of 91 pregnant women at term were studied randomly to see the effect of digital stripping of the membranes from the lower uterine segment upon the onset of labor. The women with unfavorable cervices (Bishop score 0 to 5) demonstrated a significant increase in the onset of labor within 48 hours as compared to controls. When the cervix was favorable (Bishop score 6 to 10), there was no significant effect. The overall success rate for induction of labor was not significantly altered (43.5% in membrane-stripped patients, 22.2% in controls). There were no major complications of the procedure.